The Assassin's Destiny (Isle of Dreams) (65 page)

They trekked deeper, following
Samson’s silent lead at a frustratingly slow pace.  The dense layer of
ferns covering the forest floor hid a multitude of half-rotten logs and tree
roots that made riding at anything more than a walk impossible.  Before
long the occasionally heard sounds of the other hunting parties became fainter
then faded away completely, leaving only the horses’ muffled hoof beats and
their own quiet breathing to break the sepulchral silence.  Warm beads of
water dripped down onto them from the hanging drapes of moss but Mistral barely
noticed.  Her eyes moved relentlessly over the thick vegetation, searching
for any signs of the harpies … or Columbine.  She caught the twitch of a
fern out of the corner of her eye and reacted instinctively, swinging her
crossbow round as the swaying fronds parted to reveal a snake, winding quickly
through the undergrowth. 

The silence was suddenly broken
by Grendel muttering a stream of swear words under his breath.  Mistral
and the twins turned sharply, their crossbows raised ready only to be
disappointed by the sight of the half-troll waving his battle axe irritably at
the cloud of insects clustered in the humid air above his head. 

‘They could well be the only
winged creatures you get to hunt today brother.’  Phantom muttered sourly
and wiped moisture from his face with an equally damp sleeve.

‘Shh!’ Samson abruptly
hissed. 

Pulling his horse to a halt he
raised a hand and signalled for them to ride up alongside.  Instantly
alert, Mistral and the twins reined in beside him and lifted their crossbows
again, staring around tensely until Samson motioned towards the branches a
short distance ahead of them.

Mistral narrowed her eyes and
stared at where Samson pointed but couldn’t see anything.  With her free hand
she signalled her confusion, using the silent code all Ri warriors were
taught.  Phantasm responded with a quick motion, drawing her attention to
a faint grey blur almost entirely obscured by the thick shield of leaves. 
She nodded once and tensed, her eyes locked onto their target. 

Samson held up four fingers,
indicating how many harpies he had spotted.  Reaching for his crossbow and
priming it quietly he turned to look at Grendel, gesturing silently to the
leather sling looped in his belt.

Grendel nodded and pulled the
sling free.  Reaching into the pouch strapped on his belt he drew out a
handful of heavy lead balls.  Fumbling slightly, he dropped them into the
sling then looked expectantly at Samson.

Samson held his hand up,
instructing for Grendel to wait then gave a series of swift signals to the
twins and Mistral.  They watched him carefully, deciphering the rapid
code.  When he finished Mistral and the twins nodded once, indicating that
they had understood. 

His plan was simple; first the
twins were to conceal themselves on the ground armed with crossbows, then
Grendel would fire a sling of lead balls into the group of harpies to flush
them out.  Mistral was to remain mounted beside Samson, drawing the
harpies towards them and allowing the twins clear shots from either side with
Grendel providing back-up.

Satisfied that his instructions
had been understood, Samson indicated to where he wished the twins to be
positioned.  They immediately slipped from their saddles and dropped to
the ground, crawling quickly away through the damp ferns.  Samson waited
until he heard the soft double click of their crossbows being primed before
looking at Mistral.

‘Ready?’  he signalled.

She nodded and immediately
returned her attention to the four ghostly shapes just visible in the trees
ahead of them.  Raising her crossbow she gripped it tightly, feeling the
heady sense of anticipation build.  Samson gave a downwards flick of his
hand and the taut silence was broken by the creak of Grendel’s leather sling
being drawn. 

The harpies stirred in response
to the warning noise and became four distinct shapes.  With a resounding
snap Grendel released his sling and the lead balls flew through the air,
pattering like heavy raindrops through the foliage.  The resulting chorus
of shrieks told them that the lead balls had found their marks.  The hunt
was on.

In a cacophony of screeching the
enraged harpies burst from their hiding place, swooping down on translucent
wings, their snarling mouths open wide to reveal curved needle-sharp
teeth.  Gripped by a rush of adrenaline that obliterated any lingering
memories of her promises to Fabian, Mistral grinned and levelled her crossbow
at one of the harpies.  Noting fleetingly that the surprisingly large
iridescent blue eyes were exactly the same colour as Leo’s, she adjusted her
aim straight for one of them and fired.

The harpy twisted sharply in the
air and the bolt flew past, embedding deeply into a branch with loud
thud.  Mistral swore and hastily began to reload.  The twins and Samson
had also fired but the lethal hail of bolts only seemed to infuriate the
harpies further.  Snapping back the lock and raising her crossbow Mistral
fired again.  This time her aim was true and the bolt struck the harpy
cleanly, but instead of driving into the grey skin it snapped in two and fell
away without even drawing blood.  Emitting a high scream of fury the harpy
immediately dropped into a steep dive, heading straight for her.  Cirrus
gave a snort of terror and wheeled, desperate to escape the creature bearing
down on him.  With a shouted oath Mistral grabbed at his reins with one
hand, clinging fiercely to her crossbow with the other.  In the brief
moment it took for her to regain control the harpy was upon her, its sharp
talons reaching out to rake at the exposed skin of her face and forearms. 

High-pitched whines sounded out
as Samson and the twins fired at the harpy attacking her, their bolts finding
their target but barely marking the harpy’s tough hide.  Lashing out
blindly with her unloaded crossbow, Mistral struck the harpy hard in the
face.  Giving an ear-shattering shriek it veered away, flying back to the
three circling above them. 

Looping her reins swiftly over
the pommel of her saddle, Mistral rammed another bolt into her crossbow took
aim again.  But the harpies were no longer easy targets.  They darted
through the air with rapid, jerky movements, their dragonfly-like wings
allowing them change direction with startling speed, making it nearly
impossible for Mistral to get a clear shot.

‘Damn it!  They’re going to
mob us!’

Samson’s shouted warning came a
split-second before the harpies grouped and dived, hurtling down in a grey mass
of teeth and claws.

Chaos erupted.  Cirrus
snorted and shied violently, knocking Mistral’s crossbow from her hands. 
She cursed angrily and grabbed for her reins while Samson and the twins fired
frantically, but their bolts seemed to have almost no effect on the
harpies.  With piercing screams the harpies converged on the vulnerable
target of Mistral, unarmed and struggling to control her rebellious
horse.  Rolling his eyes in terror, Cirrus reared and finally succeeded in
throwing Mistral from his back.

Mistral crashed heavily to the
ground, the deep cushioning of wet ferns and moss breaking her fall but leaving
her winded.  She opened her eyes with a groan that immediately became a
gasp of panic when she saw all four harpies diving towards her, their
saucer-shaped eyes gleaming with vicious intent.

Before she had time to reach for
her swords everything was obscured by Grendel’s huge bulk looming over her,
roaring and whirling his battle axe above his head to drive the harpies
away.  Gratitude gave her strength and Mistral rolled clear. 
Stumbling to her feet she hastily drew her swords and angled them upwards,
turning slowly, her eyes fixed on the circling harpies.  They dipped and
dived, screaming in frustration, held back by Grendel’s axe.  A movement
on her right caught Mistral’s eye, she turned quickly and swore.  Phantom
had left his hiding place to help her.  His sudden appearance immediately
drew the harpies’ attention.  With a chorus of ear-splitting screeches
they dived for him.

Giving a shout of pure rage
Mistral launched at the mob of harpies, slashing wildly with her swords. 
The harpies scattered, regrouping swiftly in the air above them but the few
seconds was all the time Phantom needed to draw his sword.  Leaping up
with his sword outstretched he struck, cutting deeply into tough grey
hide.  The wounded harpy shrieked furiously and rounded on him with teeth
and claws bared.  Dropping one sword, Mistral shoved Phantom out of the
way and lunged for the harpy, grabbing it around the throat and holding it at
arm’s length while its sharp talons tore at her.  Oblivious to the pain in
her arm, Mistral glared into the harpy’s unblinking blue eyes and drew back her
remaining sword.

‘Don’t hurt my brother, bitch!’

The hissed words preceded
justified deliverance.  She thrust the sword into its body, watching its
eyes widened briefly then glaze to a flat, lifeless stare.

Tossing the limp body aside
Mistral quickly grabbed her dropped sword and spun around ready for the next
harpy.  She realised with a spasm of irritation that both Phantasm and
Samson had joined the fight and were blocking her from getting a clear strike
at the three remaining harpies.

‘Get out of my way!’ she snarled
and arced both swords through the air to slash at the exposed belly of a harpy
diving towards her.

Samson barged past and knocked
her over, lunging at the harpy she had injured and spearing it with a clean
thrust.  Mistral clambered to her feet and threw herself back into the
fight with an outraged shout.

‘Stay out!’  Samson growled,
shoving her roughly behind him. 

He held her back with one arm and
immediately drove his sword straight into one of the circling harpies, killing
it instantly.  Leaving the harpy to tumble lifelessly to the ground,
Samson turned and grabbed hold of Mistral, shoving her roughly towards Grendel.

‘Keep her out of this!’
 Samson ordered sharply then turned back to the fight.

Grendel grunted and lifted
Mistral from her feet.  Tucking her easily under one arm he carried her,
struggling furiously, to a safe distance away from the fight.

‘Let me go!’  Mistral howled
and kicked uselessly against Grendel’s massive arm.

Grendel ignored her and stood
passively waiting for the fight to finish while Mistral swore and cursed,
calling him every name under the sun while she remained firmly locked under his
arm.

‘You can release her now.’  

Samson’s rasping voice called and
Mistral cursed again when Grendel immediately released his grip and dropped her
unceremoniously to the ground.

‘Why the hell did you do that?’
she screamed, leaping to her feet and striding over to thrust her face in Samson’s.

He held her enraged glare calmly,
one scarred eyebrow slightly raised, ‘Do you recall any of the promises you
made to Fabian this morning?’ 

Mistral’s eyes widened in fury,
‘Don’t you
dare
to lecture me Samson!  You’ve no right!’

‘I have every right.  I
swore to Fabian that I would keep you safe for him, and I have.’

Mistral glared at him, her lip
curling in anger.  She started shout at him again and suddenly Phantasm
was by her side, speaking softly in her ear, making no sense at first until his
repeated words gradually sank through the red mist and finally registered.

‘– Fabian let you hunt
today.  Don’t betray his trust in you.  He loves you Mistral –’

The rage drained from her
body.  Deep, crippling shame crept into the void left behind.  How
easily, willingly even, she had broken every single promise made to Fabian only
hours earlier.  Her word was nothing, worthless.  Like her.

She stared wretchedly at Samson,
‘He knew I’d fail him, didn’t he?’

Samson met her stricken gaze and
shook his head slowly, ‘No Mistral.  He just knows you.’

Mistral dropped her head into her
hands, ‘I’ve let him down.  He trusted me and I – I couldn’t even keep my
word for
two hours –
’

Suddenly she was consumed by the
need to be with Fabian, to tell him that she loved him, that she was sorry … so
sorry … that he had been right not to trust her and plead for his
forgiveness.  The compulsion to hear his voice was undeniable.
 Nothing else mattered.

Mistral’s head snapped up, her
eyes filled with fearful urgency, ‘I’ve got to go!’  she turned and
sprinted towards Cirrus before Samson could stop her.

Flinging herself onto Cirrus’
back she dug her heels into him.  The powerful horse responded
immediately, leaping away with a surprised snort before her feet were in the
stirrups.

‘Hell fire!’  Samson cursed,
running towards his own horse.  ‘Get those harpies Grendel!’ 
swinging himself into the saddle he pulled his horse around to chase after
Mistral before anyone else had moved.

‘She hasn’t even got her
crossbow!’  Phantom bent to retrieve Mistral’s dropped crossbow.

‘I don’t believe that
girl.’  Phantasm muttered and ran to his horse.  ‘Let’s hope she
doesn’t meet any more harpies.’

‘Or Columbine.’  Grendel
added, shoving the limp bodies into a large sack and slinging it over his back.

The twins shared a brief look and
kicked their horses after Samson. 

Mistral clung to Cirrus’ neck,
urging him to go faster.  He responded to her frantic pleas, crashing
recklessly through the tangled undergrowth and stumbling unchecked over fallen
logs and hidden tree roots.  Heedless to the sharp pain of the branches
that whipped at her face and arms, Mistral could only think of the expression
on Fabian’s face when he had watched her ride into The Emerald Forests. 
He had known … he had known all along that she would betray him; that she would
be unable to resist her stupid, cursed selfish nature.